however we have 29 days to the fiscal cliff. they go on vacation, break for the holidays on the 15th. so technically we have 12 days to reach a deal. is that enough time? >> you know, there is still time. i think that's the important thing to know. it seems like one of the drops, first off, congressdoesn't like to hang around for christmas. we've learned that from past years. the payroll 2 cut last year out of here before christmas. they don't really like to do that. so i think really it seems the drop is the end of the year. but december 17th, the week before christmas is really seen as a very important week. there's still time to figure this out. anyone on both sides of this equation will tell you they know what the math is, zoraida. even if it's tough for us to understand, they understand what's at stake here. they understand how you have to move around some of these numbers. the question really is, this negative tone that we're hearing, much more negative than a couple weeks ago, how much of it is posturing, and how much of